Agency, Development & Displacement an Introduction to Post-Colonial Ecocriticism

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 M.A. in English Literature, Guilan University, Iran

2 Associate Professor of English Literature Department of English Language and Literature, Guilan University

Abstract

Ecocriticism as a field of study into the state of both human and non-human entities in an act of colonization. As such three of its most important concepts, Agency, Development and Displacement, are discussed to facilitate the understanding of this approach for the readers. Non-human agency advocates against a human-centric agency and for a dynamic relationship between human and non-human agency instead. As often witnessed in the aftermath of natural disasters such as an earthquake, natural events are unpredictable and not all in control of human beings. Then it can be stated that humans are not the only active agents in the environment but that instead we need to study the dynamic relationship between human and non-human agencies. The second concept, Development, is a bridge between colonialism and non-human agency, which entails the process of changing an environment in course of monopolizing certain products in a colonized country. Such changes usually have negative effects on the natives’ lives, such as losing their jobs, homes and impoverishment. This then leads to their displacement, seeking a new area where they can find new resources to survive and build their lives around. This is then a chained set of events as explained in the article, from the promise of a development that is in truth monopolizing one or more products, to the displacement of the natives from their homes and their struggle to survive.

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Journals of Environmental Education and Sustainable Development
Volume 10, Issue 4
August 2022
Pages 97-109

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